The other day, I was sitting in my office and one of my colleagues stopped by and excitedly shared a story about how, for a few years now, he’s been hounding his son to stop playing video games so much (specifically Halo). However, his son recently threw my friend and his wife for a loop when he made them an offer — let me play Halo as much as I want, and I’ll earn money doing it.

My friend (the father) scoffed. Make money playing games — yeah right. Well — turns out my friend’s teenage son, through self-training and a natural adeptness for gaming, stumbled upon one of the most remarkeable ways for kids to make money online. It turns out that the virtual world is now a growing virtual marketplace, and that marketplace transfers directly into real money in the real world.

If a kid is especially skilled at leveling up in specific popular MMOs, or has a natural skill at creating virtual items, clothes or acquiring virtual “toys” (you’d be absolutely amazed what kids can do online today), then your own kid stands the chance to earn some pretty good money. In fact, should they spend several hours a day focused on this “job,” they could probably make almost as much as you do! Don’t believe it? I recently wrote an article about how teens can make money onlineBest Websites for Teens to Earn Money OnlineBest Websites for Teens to Earn Money OnlineHow can a high school and college students make some easy money during summer break, or even during the school year? You will be surprised at the opportunities available on the web for teens.Read More by writing articles or writing programs for clients, but in this article I’d like to introduce you to the brave new frontier known as the virtual marketplace.

#1 – How Kids Can Make Money Online With Account Leveling

Do your kids spend countless hours playing popular multiplayer online games? Or maybe you don’t allow them to, but they constantly beg for more time for gaming? Or, on a more personal level, maybe you are one of those kids who love online gaming but your parents are constantly hounding you about getting off Halo or Second Life and telling you to find a job with all of that “spare time” you’ve got to play games.

Starting with the most popular MMOG site, World Of Warcraft, it’s not difficult to recognize how quickly such a community can turn into a dream opportunity for entrepreneurs. You’ve got a huge community of folks all working toward achieving similar goals. Some folks are much better at it than others, and excel much faster. In fact, there are some gamers who can level up on games like WoW or Halo to crazy levels in just a matter of hours. They know what to do, where to go and how to get it done.

Other people like to socialize, spend hours just roaming around and performing occasional quests. One thing mostly all MMOG players have in common is an envy for the “top echelon” of levels, and a common respect for those gamers who’ve made it there. This envy creates a marketplace by principle of “supply and demand.” The demand for having an account that’s at a high, powerful level – and a low supply because of the difficulty and skill required in getting there. This gives skilled gamers an edge in a growing niche market.

If you want proof that there’s such a marketplace that even exists, just take a look at BuyMMOAccounts, one of the more popular places online to buy and sell WorldOfWarcraft accounts. Sure, some of these levels are amazing and not exactly easy, but you can be sure that if someone will pay almost $200 for a top account, they’ll be willing to pay you $50 to $100 for an account that gets them past all of the boring and annoying newbie levels that new players have to suffer through. There are people willing to invest in bypassing those levels, and you could use your gaming skills to offer them that valuable product that they desire. While WoW is the most popular for buying and selling accounts, almost every single MMOG out there creates its own marketplace. Play4Uber is a good example of a place where you can enter six such marketplaces to peddle your high-level accounts.

Play4Uber includes a section for WoW (both US and EU), GuildWars, Lord of the Rings Online, Final Fantasy XI and Eve Online. These are only two sample websites in a growing sea of sites that are popping up and offering you, the expert gamer, an opportunity to earn some awesome cash from those skills that you’ve developed during those late-night, Red Bull fueled gaming sessions.

#2 – Making Money With Special Items

If you or your kid is not so much a “leveling-up” sort of gamer, but you instead prefer participating in virtual worlds where items are earned, created, bought and sold in much the same way they are in the real world, then there are also money making opportunities for you too. In particular, the world of Second LifeSecond Life - What is the Hype?Second Life - What is the Hype?Read More is seriously transforming what it means to be working online.This represents one of the coolest ways for kids to make money virtually.

At first, Second Life was a huge online community that was mostly just a novelty. But, as that community grew and the user base exploded, opportunities also grew for savvy and creative virtual entrepreneurs. Second Life offers users a creative and very flexible design tool where users can build their own items, from amazing cars to clothing to jewelry and more. Scripting is included so creators can incorporate functionality and behavior to those items. Rare, customized items are very much a status symbol within this virtual world – and they are rapidly increasing in demand and value. The place where you sell your items are most commonly right there in the virtual world. Blogs and forums throughout the Internet discuss the amazing items within their favorite niche, which you can find and buy on Second Life, such as this UK blog called “Music Thing.”

People actively spend their time designing item after item, and place them up for sale in their virtual Second Life store. Think kids can’t do something like this? Well then you may not be aware of Teen Second Life.

#3 – Raking In The Cash With Toddler Games Too

Most of the virtual income opportunities I’ve discussed in this article are focused on older kids, usually teens, who are now pros at games like Halo or World of Warcraft. But, what about those little ones who’ve grown tired of their Webkinz account (or should we say their Webkinz mansion) that they’ve spent several years building up. You’ve spent lots of cash buying those little stuffed animals and collecting codes, and your little kid spent hours playing games and collecting cool Webkinz items for their Webkinz home. Is there a way for your child to rake in a little cash for all of that effort? You bet there is – help them sell their Webkinz home.

Searching Craigslist for Webkinz accounts or Webkinz homes turns up an entire marketplace for Webkinz, and if your kid is especially adept at turning that $5 to $10 Webkinz code that comes with a stuffed animal into a sweet $50+ sale in a few days, that’s a nice wad of cash for their piggy bank!

It’s a whole new world online, and getting a “real job” just doesn’t mean what it used to. There are now virtual jobs that pay more than real jobs in most communities, and letting your kids explore the virtual world as an entrepreneur (rather than just as a gamer) will teach them business and marketing skills that they’d probably never otherwise learn.

Do you think online gaming is a growing market opportunity? Have you ever sold gaming items or accounts for real cash? Share your experience in the comments section below!

Are you sure about that? I just went to that web-site...I tried looking on the left side, the right side, at the bottom and at top of the site...and nowhere did I find "finance health" to find a way to make money...perhaps it was moved?

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For detailed information about the problems with these elements, visit Google Safe Browsing Diagnostic Page for tne.tourskorea.com. ***BE WARNED***

The article never mentioned that with World of Warcraft, you dont actually own your account or the items and characters on it. They are Blizzard's property and selling accounts is not allowed and against their terms of service. Im not against selling accounts. People put a lot of time and work into their characters. But I think a responsible writer should have mentioned this fact. They also failed to mention there are a lot of scams out there to steal these accounts. They use stolen paypal accounts to pay for your account and when the theft is discovered you loose the money and they still get your account. The only way to insure you dont get ripped off is to make the transaction face to face.

How to make money using PayPal
This is a union for those who have been seeking financial freedom
$6 dollar PayPal as seen on Oprah
o!Invest Small and Earn Easy $$$$$
THE PAYPAL 6 DOLLAR MONEY-MAKING METHOD.
As seen on Oprah & 20/20
All you need is:
1) E-mail address
2) PayPal account
3) $6.00
A great Business opportunity that was proven to work on Oprah and 20/20. This is a safe, risk free opportunity to start your own business with just $6.00.
INSTRUCTIONS:
STEP 1:
The first thing to do is highlight and SAVE this entire post in word or notebook on your computer so you Can come back to it later. After that, if you are not already a PayPal user you need to go to the PayPal website which is http://www.paypal.com.
If you want to receive credit card payments from other people, than you will need to sign up for PREMIER or Business account (not just PERSONAL account). This is highly
recommended to allow others easy payment options. In order to place the initial $6 into your account will have to verify your bank account with PAYPAL (which may take a few days). PAYPAL is 100% secure and used by millions of people worldwide.
STEP 2:
Here is where the action occurs. The first thing to do is send a $1.00 payment to each of the 6 e-mail addresses on the current list from your PAYPAL account. To do this quickly and successfully, follow these simple steps:
1. Login to PayPal and click on the "Send Money" tab near the top of
the screen
2. In the "Recipient's Email" field enter the email address
3. In the "Amount" field enter "1" (This is your $1.00 payment)
4. In the "Category" field select "Service" (Keeping it legal)
5. In the "Subject" field type "EMAIL LIST" and in the "NOTE" field
enter "PLEASE PUT ME ON YOUR EMAIL LIST". By doing this, you are
creating a service and maintaining the legality of the system by
"paying" for the service.
6. Finally, click on the "Continue" button to complete the payment.
Repeat these steps for each of the 6 email addresses. That's it! By
sending the $1.00 payment to each address, you are implementing the
compounding POWER of the system. You will reap what you sow!
Here is the current e-mail list:
1) cbr_mc@yahoo.com
2) rl_belen@yahoo.com
3) abaragus@gmail.com
4) cathymz@yahoo.com
5) Dorsey_corey@yahoo.com
6) gorrion79@live.com

STEP 3:
â€¨Now take the #1 e-mail off of the list that you see above (from your saved file), move the other addresses up (6 becomes 5, 5 becomes 4, etc.) and add YOUR email address (the one used for your PayPalâ€¨account) as number 6 on the list. This is the only part of theâ€¨document that should be changed.
** Make sure your email address isâ€¨the one you have registered with PayPal **â€¨â€¨
STEP 4
Post your amended article to at least 200 news groups or message boards. Keep in mind there are tens of thousands of groups on line! All you need is 200, but remember, the more you post the more you make- as well as everyone else on the list!
You will make money geometrically. For example, lets assume everyone receives 5 replies ( a small response rate).
You send out the MINIMUM 200 postings and receive $5.00.
Those 5 people post 200 and receive $5.00 each, you receive $25.00
Those 25 people post 200 and receive $5.00 each , you receive $125.00
Those 125 post 200 and receive $5.00 each, you receive $625.00
Those 625 post 200 and receive $5.00 each , you receive $3,125.00
Those 3125 post 200 and receive $5.00 each , you receive $15,625.00
Eventually your name will be moved to the top of the list and then dropped from the list
altogether. But, on the above example you will have made $15,625. Imagine your return with 10, 20 or 30 replies
With this kind of return, YOUâ€™VE GOT TO TRY IT!
Use Netscape, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, or whatever your internet browser is to search for various newsâ€¨groups, log on to any search engine like yahoo.com or google.com andâ€¨type inâ€¨a subject like 'MILLIONAIRE MESSAGE BOARD', 'MONEY MAKINGâ€¨DISCUSSIONS' , 'MONEY MAKING FORUMS', or 'BUSINESS MESSAGE BOARD',â€¨PAYPAL 6 DOLLAR, OPRAH 6 DOLLAR PAYPAL METHOD.
You willâ€¨find thousands and thousands of message boards. Click them one by oneâ€¨andâ€¨you will find the option to post a new message.
Fill in the subjectâ€¨which will be the header that everyone sees as they scroll throughâ€¨the list of postings in a particular group, and post the article with theâ€¨NEW list of email addresses included.
PLEASE REMEMBERâ€¦. You are starting a Mailing List. You will soon compile an extensive mailing list. It can be very useful in your business, to start a new business , or for other businesses to acquire information from you. People are giving you $1.00 to be put on your list. This is a legal helpful service. If you have any doubts, please refer to Title 18 Sec. 1302 & 1241 of the United States postal laws.
This program remains successful because of the honesty and integrity of the participants and carefully adhering to the directions. The more news groups you post in, the more money you will make.
How easy is that! And, only a $6.00 investment!

If I was to recommend a good money making opportunity for teens(above 13) should really look into doing free paid surveys and referring other friends, read how I make my monthly income online for free here

WoW has been an income for many since it was first released. I personally have sold multiple account after playing for the first year. One account went for 1200 usd and another a month later for 600 usd. After a while accounts became less and less valuable.

People have been making money playing wow for a long time. ESL, blizzcon, and several other gaming leagues offer several thousand dollar purses for top finishing teams ($75,000 is the highest payout i've seen). I played wow for a short time in college and sold my account for $800; however, the character was fully upgraded. People also sell in game currency for real currency. Crazy stuff.

Ryan has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering. He's worked 13 years in automation engineering, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer. A former Managing Editor of MakeUseOf, he's spoken at national conferences on Data Visualization and has been featured on national TV and radio.